Method for manufacturing a fibre fleece laminated with a foil and a device for performing such a method

ABSTRACT

By starting from a non-bound fibre fleece one manufactures a composition consisting of a fleece strengthened at the fibre junctions with a stiffening agent and a foil, by taking care to have a discontinuous pattern of said stiffening agent available at the moment of uniting said fleece with said foil; the discontinuous pattern is obtained with a cylindrical screen with internal squeegee.

United States Patent 1191 Anselrode 1 Nov. 6, 1973 METHOD FORMANUFACTURING A FIBRE 3,577,290 5/1971 Baskerville et al. 156/62.2FLEECE LAMINATED I A FOIL AND A geddo Ital/1154669);

, regolre... DEVICE FOR PERFORMING SUCH A 2,543,101 2/1951 Francis156/62.2 METHOD 2,794,759 6/1957 Dildilian 156/62.2 x 75 Inventor:Lodewijk l d St Anthonis 3,214,323 10/1965 Russell et a1 156/291 XNetherlands 3,484,330 12/1969 Sokol0wsk1 et al 161/148 x [73] Assignee:Stork-Amsterdam N.V.,Amstelveen,

Netherlands Primary Examiner-Edward G. Whitby Filed: Oct- 1970Attorney-Edmund M. Jask1ew1cz 121 Appl. No.: 84,981

[57] ABSTRACT [52] US. Cl l56/62.2, 156/279, 156/291,

/141, 161/148, 161/170, 425/1 By starting from a non-bound fibre fleeceone manufaclilttux-es a composition consisting of a fleece trengthenedField d 56/29] 1 62-2, 376, at the fibre junctions with a stiffeningagent and a foil, 161/148, 64, by taking care to have a discontinuouspattern of said 120, 140 stiffening agent available at the moment ofuniting said fleece with said foil; the discontinuous pattern is oblReferences Clted tained with a cylindrical screen with internalsqueegee.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,449,187 6/1969 Bobkowicz 161/141 X 5 Claims, 7Drawing Figures 1.. a L g 1 1 J :11: .1 14/ -19 2 I 5?? 1 f Tji .j" j

4;: a m l Ls PATENTEUNHY 6191s 3.770.534 SHEET 10F 2 FIG. I.

FIG. 2.

IPATENTEDNUV ems 3.770.534

SHEET 2 OF 2 FB gwEA.

, 1 METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING A FIBRE FLEECE LAMINATED WITH A FOIL AND ADEVICE FOR PERFORMINGSUCII A METHOD SUMMARY OF THE PRIOR ART Theinvention relates to a method for manufacturing a fibre fleece laminatedwith a foil whilst applying a binding agent between the fleece and thefoil and a subsequent drying of this aggregate. The product according tothis method is applied for various purposes, principally in the hygienicsector, while mostly a foil of polyethylene, polypropylene orpolyvinylchloride is used on which the fibre fleece is applied as amoisture absorbing layer. Such a product can be used for the manufactureof disposal sheets, baby napkins, etc.

The method so far adopted for the manufacture of such a product consistsin that at first the fibre fleece consisting of paper or other non-wovenmaterial is prepared, that is to say a binding agent is added thereto,whereupon this product is laminated with the desired foil. A drawback ofthis known method consists in that the fleece should at least once berolled up and unrolled during its processing and consequently a rathergreat quantity of binding agent in the fleece is required to impartsufficient strength and coherence to the fleece.

EXPLANATION OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to providea method by which the final product aimed at can be manufactured whilstapplying considerably less binding agent and whilst simplifying themethod itself. This object is attained according to the invention inthat the fibre fleece is supplied to the foil in a non-bound conditionand in that only during or after the combination of the fleece and thefoil a binding agent in a discontinuous pattern iscaused to come intocontact with the fleece.

In this way it sufficies to apply a smaller quantity of binding agent,since, less own strength of the fibre fleece is required because thisstrength is already provided by the foil. As a result the productbecomes cheaper andv moreover more flexible so that it is better adaptedto the form which it should eventually take. The product obtained byperforming the aforementioned method has a greater absorbing capacity asa consequence of the lower binding agent content. The discontinuouspattern may consist of individual dots or spots, lines and thelike,'which e.g. are formed by points which are flown together.

The essence of the invention is based on the understanding that it ispossible, by using a binding agent with the right chemical properties,to obtain in a single operation a strengthening of the fibre fleece anda sufficient adherence to the foil.

Preferably the aggregate of foil and fibre fleece bearing on each otheris passed past a screen cylinder, while such a quantity of binding agentin a suitable pattern is applied to the fleece that a part of thebinding agent penetrates as far as the foil. By exerting a sufficientpressure of the squeegee within the screen cylinder such a quantity ofbinding agent is applied in a suitable pattern to the fibre fleece, sofar not bound, that not only sufficient fibres are bound in the fleece,but also the binding agent penetrating through the fleece ensuressufficient adherence of the bound fleece to the foil.

According to another embodiment of the method the foil is passed past ascreen cylinder in order to apply a suitable binding agent pattern andonly thereupon the fibre fleece is supplied to that printed face of thefoil. This variant can be applied to sufficiently thin fleece webs,whereby the quantity of binding agent on the foil sufficies to ensureboth the adherence of the fleece to the foil and the binding of thefleece itself.

For very thick fleeces where the quantity of binding agent penetratingthrough the fleece is relatively small, the adherence can be improved bypassing the aggregate of adhering foil and fibre fleece,'obtained bypreviously printing the foil, past a second screen cylinder for applyinga binding agent pattern to the uncovered face of the fleece.

Another interesting variant of the method according to the invention isdistinguished in that the fleece is supplied under some pressure to anot yet dried, gelled or polymerised foil which is supplied on atemporary supporting belt, whereupon the binding agent pattern isapplied to the uncovered face of the fleece and the entire aggregate isheated and/or dried and finally the belt is removed. The adherence ofthe fleece .to the foil is not obtained by means of binding chemicalsapplied in a pattern, but in the form of a closed stratum in which athin layer of the fibres of the fleece is embedded. The. mutual bindingof the fibres, that is to say the strengthening of the fibre fleeceitself is ensured by the binding agent pattern. The lower adheringstratum should not have the property to penetrate fast into the rest ofthe fibre fleece, since the final product would otherwise loose itsspecial touch and absorptivity. The layer constituted by the dried,gelled or polymerised adhesive stratum has the properties of a layer ofreinforced plastic.

The non dried, gelled or polymerised foil on the temporary supportingbelt can be obtained whilst performing the method described in the U.S.Pat. application No. 831.784.-In that case the foil can be provided witha design which considerably increases the aesthetic value of the finalproduct.

The invention relates further to a device for performing the variousmethods described hereinbefore comprising a feeder for a foil web and afeeder for a fibre web. According to the invention this device isdistinguished in that at least a screeen cylinder is provided which isdesigned in such a way that a discontinuous pattern of a binding agentis obtained in the final product.

SURVEY OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 represents in outline a device forperforming the method in which simultaneously several variants have beenembodied.

FIG. 2 shows to an enlarged scale the design of a screen cylinder whichcan be applied in the device according to FIG. 1.

FIG. 3A and 3B show a section according to the line IIIA, IIIB,respectively in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 shows diagrammatically a second device for performing the method.

The FIGS. 5A and 58 represent to a strongly enlarged scale a section ofthe product at the locations V A and V B in FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF SOME EMBODIMENTS As is visible in FIG. 1 the deviceconsists of a feeder 1 for a foil web 2 and a feeder 3 for a fibrefleece 4. This fibre fleece is in a condition entirely devoid of bindingagent and comes e.g. from a carding machine which delivers the fibrefleece to a conveyor belt of the feeder 3, which advances at almost thesame speed as the foil 2. The combined webs 2 and 4 move from between apair of rollers 5, 6, whereupon the combination of the foil and fibrefleece bearing on each other is passed past a screen cylinder 7. Thefoil is supported by a roller 8. Within the screen cylinder 7 is asqueegee 9 by means of which an adequate quantity of binding agent isapplied to the fleece according to a pattern. This bindingagent mayconsist of a solution, emulsion or suspension of a suitable binderchemical, e.g. an acrylate resin. The foil consists e.g. ofpolyvinylchloride. After printing the aggregate is passed through adrying device in order to obtain the final product aimed at.

The screen cylinder 7 consists of a thin walled cylinder provided withperforations in a pattern depicted in FIG. 2. The pattern defined by theperforations consists in this example of adjacent squares with a lengthon each side which is a multiple of the pitch between two holes. In theselected embodiment as depicted in the FIGS. 3A and 3B the innerdiameter of each hole is about 250 micron with a length of pitch ofabout 1 mm. The length of each side of the square amounts therefore to 3mm, while the thickness of the wall of the screen cylinder is 0.2 mm.

A printing unit may be likewise provided in the feeding device 1 for thefoil 2, this printing unit being embodied as a screen cylinder 11 withsqueegee l2 and counter roller 13. By means of this provision a suitablepattern of binding agent can be applied to the foil 2, whereupon thisfoil without drying is passed to the location of the pair of rollers 5,6 whereat the fibre fleece 4 is supplied to the face of the foil printedin this manner. On applying sufficiently thin fleece webs 4 the quantityof binding agent on the foil 2 can be sufficient to achieve both theadherence of the fleece to the foil and the binding of the fleeceitself. In this case the printing unit 7-9 can be omitted.

In case of thicker fleeces both the printing unit 1 1-13 and the unit7-9 will be used in order to obtain in this way a sufficient adherenceand'a sufficient binding of the fleece itself.

FIG. 4 shows a device which may be considered as a combination of a partof FIG. 1 with the device according to the US. Pat. application No.831.784. A temporary supporting belt 14 is unrolled from a bobbin l andmoved past two screen cylinders 16 and 17. The cylinder 16 is providedwith a design and constitutes therefore a stencil by which a decorativepattern consisting e.g. of a coloured polyvinylchloride plastisol isapplied to the belt 14. The cylinder 17 consists of a plain mesh stenciland transfers such a quantity of thixotrope material to the belt that afoil 2 is formed. On this still liquid foil or adhesive stratum thefleece 4 is laid and pressed by means of the rollers 5, 6.

A thin layer of fibres is embedded in this not yet polymerised adhesivestratum 2. In this way the situation depicted in FIG. 5A arises. In theportion of the path before the cylinders 7, 8 a heating and subsequentcooling may be effected before the binding agent from the cylinder 7 canbe applied to the fleece in conformity with the operations described inrelation to FIG. 1. After having traversed the drying device the belt 14is pulled loose and wound on a bobbin 18. The final product isrepresented in section in FIG. 5B, the foil 2 formed by the dried andpolymerised adhesive stratum can be considered as a reinforced plasticlayer with a fleece lining on the one side and a design on the otherside.

It should be noted that an important aspect of the invention consists inthe provision of a binding agent pattern on the not yet bound fibrefleece by means of the screen cylinder 7. The contact time plays a partand it is desirable to keep same as short as possible. To that end theaggregate of foil and fleece is not passed in a straight but in a curvedcondition, via the roller 8, past the cylinder 7.

The binding agent pattern printed by the cylinder 7 with squeegee 9 onthe fibre fleece may consist of individual points; to some extent aflowing together is also permissible, provided the pattern remainsdiscontinuous, that is to say provided no closed layer of binding agentis formed on the fleece.

The method is particularly destined for making a fibre fleece adhere toa plastic foil. It is, however, also applicable to a paper or textileweb. The fibre material may be vegetable, animal, synthetic or mineral(e.g. glass fibre).

There are consequently a number of variants of the method according tothe invention, while in each of these cases the basic conception of theinvention is utilized viz. that such a quantity of a binding agent isapplied in a suitable pattern to the fibre fleece, which so far is notbound, that sufficient fibres in the fleece are bound, whereby also anadequate adherence of the bound fleece to the foil is provided for, allthis after drying of the aggregate.

What I claim is:

1. A method for manufacturing a composite product of fibers laminatedwith a foil comprising the steps of forming a single layer of loosefibers as fleece in an unbound condition and devoid of binding agentupon a foil, applying a binding agent in a discontinuous pattern on theuncovered face of the fiber layer during or after the combining of thefibers and the foil by passing the same past a screen cylinder, thebinding agent being caused to penetrate the fibers from the top of thelayer of fleece to the foil to adhere fibers to the foil in saiddiscontinuous pattern and to bind fibers to each other in an irregularpattern.

2. The method according to claim 1, in which a quantity of binding agentin a suitable pattern is applied to the fibre fleece that a part of thebinding agent penetrates as far as the foil.

3. The method according to claim 1, in which the fleece is supplied atsome pressure to a not yet dried, gelled or polymerised foil which isadvanced on a temporary supporting belt, whereupon the binding agentpattern is applied to the uncovered face of the fleece and the entireaggregate is heated and/or dried and finally the belt is removed.

4. The method according to claim 1, in which the foil is passed past ascreen cylinder in order to apply a suitable pattern of binding agentand that only thereupon the fibre fleece is supplied to the printed faceof the foil.

5. The method according to claim 4, in which the adhering foil and fibrefleece are passed past a second screen cylinder in order to apply abinding agent pattern to the uncovered face of the fleece.

1. A method for manufacturing a composite product of fibers laminatedwith a foil comprising the steps of forming a single layer of loosefibers as fleece in an unbound condition and devoid of binding agentupon a foil, applying a binding agent in a discontinuous pattern on theuncovered face of the fiber layer during or after the combining of thefibers and the foil by passing the same past a screen cylinder, thebinding agent being caused to penetrate the fibers from the top of thelayer of fleece to the foil to adhere fibers to the foil in saiddiscontinuous pattern and to bind fibers to each other in an irregularpattern.
 2. The method according to claim 1, in which a quantity ofbinding agent in a suitable pattern is applied to the fibre fleece thata part of the binding agent penetrates as far as the foil.
 3. The methodaccording to claim 1, in which the fleece is supplied at some pressureto a not yet dried, gelled or polymerised foil which is advanced on atemporary supporting belt, whereupon the binding agent pattern isapplied to the uncovered face of the fleece and the entire aggregate isheated and/or dried and finally the belt is removed.
 4. The methodaccording to claim 1, in which the foil is passed past a screen cylinderin order to apply a suitable pattern of binding agent and that onlythereupon the fibre fleece is supplied to the printed face of the foil.5. The method according to claim 4, in which the adhering foil and fibrefleece are passed past a second screen cylinder in order to apply abinding agent pattern to the uncovered face of the fleece.